People You Wouldn't Group WithFollow

Kind of a strange thought, but I was wondering if there was a place (or we could do it right here) where people could post the names of people who they recommend to not group with. And the reason why.

I only ask because I have had a string of bad luck, these past 4 days, in grouping with PL'd newbs that couldn't play; or annoying rogues who felt anything gathered in an LDon (from a crate) was theirs because they picked the lock; etc.

The first caused many, many deaths. The second, couldn't grasp that he wouldn't even have the chance to pick the locks without the rest of the group. And the rest, well, it was just frustrating to play.

If no one supports this concept, don't worry. I'm sure I will be over the frustration in a day or two. :)

I know the Rodcet Nife boards have a place to post just these things. I can only speculate that the other boards do as well.

As a general rule, I would recommend just keeping a pen and paper handy, jotting down the offending name, and never grouping with them again (refer to said list if your memory fails you).

Posting "this person is a bad groupmate" on message boards isn't as effective as it sounds. Anyone with half a brain knows that there is more than one side to any story, and I for one would be skeptical of any post like this without gathering more facts and forming my own opinion. Sometimes the "bad groupmate" comes along and posts a different account of the same events, and it's hard to tell who was at fault and even who to believe.

If a player is really bad, they'll build a bad reputation pretty quickly, and that will do far more to keep them out of groups than posts on a message board ever could.

Edit: Dagowaldt's second point is a good one, and one that didn't immediately occur to me. I wasn't well versed in group play in dungeons when I did my first LDoN, and I did a couple of stupid things that I shudder at today. EQ is a continual learning experience, and sometimes folks just need a little help to learn how to do things the right way. Give polite advice if someone is doing something that isn't in the group's best interests and if they refuse and/or get hostile about it, add their name to your list.




Edited, Wed Jul 28 15:58:07 2004 by VWDiesel

Not...

If it was some hot-headed misunderstanding (I do this a lot), then you could be hurting someone that does not deserve it.

If they are truly a waste of human (or Iksar/insert race here) flesh, then thier reputation will build itself without any help from forums.

As others have said, this is not really the place for that kind of info. An unfair rant about someone, or just plain spite and revenge would be commonplace and therefore render the list useless.

If you belong to a guild, have them start a section in their forum for just such a topic...if they do not already have one. If it comes from guildies, it is typically gonna be fair and the warning is only for other guildies so revenge and spite is not nearly as big a motivating factor.

Our guild thread on this topic usually points out specific reasons, tells a more rounded story and usually does not just rant...it is a warning. Although, we do have a pretty mature guild that would not tolerate a guild member using the board to rant about someone for no reason.

I don't agree with $hitlisting, blacklisting, or general flaming. As was already said, if a person is really that bad he/she will build their own reputation very quickly. We all have our bad days where we'll cause ourselves or our groups trouble, and no one deserves hatred for it if it was an honest mistake or misunderstanding.

I happen to forget the retards I decided to group with very fast so I just put them on my ignore list to check if someone acts suspicious - but I recognise the few real ********* immediately when I come across one of them again.

But I would never post their names on a board.

I've grouped with more than one bad player, I find if they are open to criticism and enjoy the game it doesn't take long to turn them into a good groupmate and a friend. Lot's of people play poorly because they don't know how. It's allot easier to teach someone trying to learn than someone who knows it all.

Sure there are people I won't group with, but that doesn't mean they are neccesarilly bad people. It means that their playstyle does not mesh with mine and we have a bad synergy. I don't like them but it doesn't mean that I have the right to ruin their name for everyone else.

Sometimes I have off days, where everything I do seems to end poorly. I wouldn't want one of my bad days, or someone elses ignorance of my class to wind me up on a public blacklist.

One time I accepted a group in echo caverns with my chanty. The two people I grouped with were obviously fresh out of PC and had not been playing very long. The group leader was furious that I would not melee. He kept yelling at me in /shout to go in and fight, when I told him I didn't even carry a weapon as an enchanter he handed me a rusty dagger! After 10 minutes of trying to explain my class to him I politly excused myself and headed back to PoK to find a new group.

I certainly would be upset if this person posted on a public blacklist that I was a crappy player, and cost me good groups and perhaps my chanters reputation. I didn't add this person to my personal blacklist because he was just inexperienced. In a few hard levels he might begin to shine at his class, I wouldn't want to lose a good group because of the way he thought in his noobness.